Bottas targets 2013 F1 debut

Williams test driver Valtteri Bottas says he is keen to secure a place on the grid in race seat by 2013 having wrapped up the GP3 title during the season finale at Monza.

Bottas, who has finished inside the top three in the F3 Euroseries standings on two occasions in the past and is a double winner of the Formula 3 Masters race, joined Williams in a testing role last year and retained his position for 2011.

Having clinched the GP3 title, the young Finn is now setting his sights on GP2 for the 2012 season with his ultimate hope being to then progress into F1 the following year.

Both Nico Hulkenberg and Pastor Maldonado earned race seats with Williams on the back of successful GP2 campaigns.

“I have been speaking with my manager and there are some options for GP2,” he told GPUpdate.net. “There also might be one option for the World Series by Renault. But we really need to see, there is nothing confirmed yet for anything. I still think GP2 is the category which is closest to F1; it happens on the same weekend and the cars are not too different to F1 cars.

“We have a good working relationship [with Williams] and I am working as hard as I can to improve as a driver and to get there one day. I would really want to race there, but with Formula 1 there are always so many different things which can decide whether or not you get a seat. So we need to see, but 2013 would be ideal.”

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